Game Informer

Backwards compatibility is a feature that Xbox fans enjoyed with the previous generation and that play on nostalgia carried beautifully into the current-gen with the Xbox Series X/S. To make this perk even better (beyond never having to leave old favorites behind), Microsoft has revealed a new feature with FPS Boost. 

Xbox senior program manager Paul Eng took to the Xbox Wire blog to talk about recent improvements made to the team's backwards compatibility program. When designing the Xbox Series X and S, backwards compatibility played a key role, including virtually all titles benefiting from faster load times and the Quick Resume feature when playing on the latest console. Now a new update aims to make this aspect of the Xbox experience even better with the reveal of the FPS Boost, which aims to add a variety of new methods of doubling (even quadrupling, according to the blog post) the original framerates of earlier titles. 

This feature is not yet available for all titles but it has begun its implementation of improvements with the following games: 

Earlier this month, Google announced that a plethora of studios that were recently created with Stadia's future in mind are being abruptly shut down, with a number of employees affected by layoffs. According to recent reports, not only were the teams not expecting it, they were deliberately misled to believe that the outlook was positive just a week prior to the shutdowns. 

In a recent report from Kotaku, several sources with knowledge of what happened came forward, detailing how leadership was dishonest about the future of their roles within the company. According to said sources, one week prior to the notice of shutdowns, Google Stadia vice president Phil Harrison sent out an email blast to the entire staff praising their efforts and detailing "great progress" that has been made thus far by each studio. That "great progress" apparently includes massive cuts, because many of these people found themselves laid off days later. 

“[Stadia Games and Entertainment] has made great progress building a diverse and talented team and establishing a strong lineup of Stadia exclusive games,” read the email from the vice president, according to the site. “We will confirm the SG&E investment envelope shortly, which will, in turn, inform the SG&E strategy and 2021 [objectives and key results].”

No Man’s Sky continues to churn out free content to its players, and its latest update adds a feature I’m surprised didn’t arrive sooner: pets! That’s right, update 3.2 of the game, Companions, allows you to adopt alien critters to raise and them as your own little space cadets. 

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So how does it work? First, players adopt a creature by baiting/feeding it, and they can adopt up to six companions (though additional slots can be purchased with nanites). Players bond with their pets by feeding and giving them attention, such as playing. Once bonded, companions can be summoned anywhere, including the Space Anomaly. Pets have unique personalities that influence their behavior, and their demeanor is shaped by their species and ecosystem. A Companion Register keeps track of your pets’ personality, mood, and trust level. 

Though the upcoming Mortal Kombat movie reboot did see a small delay due to COVID-19, the launch of the latest film in the fighting-game franchise is just around the corner. To celebrate, we've got a new look at key characters in full costume and Mortal Kombat fans are loving it so far. 

The posters revealed are a teaser ahead of the full trailer reveal on Thursday, February 18. Our first look at the posters include Chin Han as Shang Tsung, Lewis Tan as Cole Young, Max Huang as Kung Lao, Sisi Stringer as Mileena, Josh Lawson as Kano, and Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero. You're going to want to "get over here" and see, because the design actually looks pretty darn impressive: 

Chin Han is Shang Tsung. #MortalKombatMovie trailer tomorrow at 9am PT. pic.twitter.com/5Bym7XaiQJ

— Mortal Kombat Movie (@MKMovie) February 17, 2021

Lewis Tan is Cole Young. #MortalKombatMovie trailer tomorrow at 9am PT. pic.twitter.com/PUzHjZm1PL

Are you ready to take mid lane with your favorite characters... in an anime series? Valve's Dota is getting a Netflix series starting on March 25!

We're excited to announce a brand-new anime series exploring the Dota universe like never before. As fellow fans of Dota and its passionate global community, we look forward to sharing this new adventure with you when it premieres on Netflix March 25.https://t.co/rHcL5QSi5b

— DOTA 2 (@DOTA2) February 17, 2021

There's honestly not a whole lot in the teaser trailer, since it doesn't do a whole lot to define itself as a Dota product. That doesn't mean much though; we'll have to wait to see how it turns out with a more robust preview (or, better yet, an episode). As a Dota fan, I'll be there on day one to see how it turns out.

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A new week means a new exotic quest in Destiny 2: Beyond Light Season of the Chosen. To get the latest exotic, which is a Scout Rifle called Dead Man's Tale, you're going to need to revisit an old strike and get real cozy with Zavala. Here's what you need to know with a helpful Destiny 2: Season of the Chosen Dead Man's Tale exotic quest guide. 

Before you get started on the actual quest, there are a few things you need to do first. To get started, you're going to want to be at least 1230 Power for the actual quest. So if you're not there yet, run some dailies and grind a bit. You will also need to have the Season Pass in order to start this quest. You can learn more about that here. 

For those who are already at least 1230, the next step is to head over to the Strike on the EDZ (European Dead Zone). The strike itself is called The Arms Dealer. If you've already run this strike, what's next will be super quick. If not, you'll want to make sure you run the entire strike as it is meant to be run. 

If you're going to make a Monster Hunter movie, you really need to deliver on the monsters. In Paul W.S. Anderson's latest film adaptation, starring Mila Jovovich and Tony Jaa, creatures run rampant, attacking everything in sight, and commanding the screen. But getting those monsters from Capcom's long-running video game series movie ready was a lot of work, requiring hundreds of people around the world and a year-and-a-half of labor, to be exact.

To figure out how it all came together, we recently spoke with Dennis Berardi, the founder of the visual production company Mr. X and visual effects supervisor for Monster Hunter, about how he adapted Capcom's monsters, the varying size of the creatures, and why sand is so hard to animate.

 

Before going into this project, did you play through the games to get more familiarity with the creatures or what was your relationship there?

Microsoft has been a pioneer in making gaming more accessible for all in recent years with its growing accessibility department, research into new ways to play as seen with its adaptive controller for Xbox, and its outreach efforts. While accessibility in gaming has finally been given the spotlight it deserves, the work is far from over. Because of that, Microsoft has detailed how it is ramping up its efforts to make gaming more available for all. 

In a new post over on Xbox Wire, Brannon Zahand, a senior program manager for gaming accessibility at Microsoft, opens up about new goals the company has regarding their efforts. "Passion for game accessibility has grown exponentially among developers and gamers alike in the past decade," he says in the post when talking about why this movement is so crucial. "According to the ESA Foundation, there are nearly 46 million gamers with disabilities in the U.S. alone, [sic] so we’re heartened to see that game developers are actively seeking out resources that guide inclusive game design to ensure that their games are fun for everyone who wants to play."

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Valheim is a new Norse survival game released in Steam Early Access earlier this month and has quickly taken Steam by storm with its peak concurrent player count topping 360,000 over the weekend. While other survival game adventures typically focus on creating either an isolated experience or an intensely competitive multiplayer environment, Valheim sets its gaze on the cooperative opportunities that are presented by the genre.

The game tasks up to 10 players to hunt, craft, cook, build, and ultimately, survive not only the harsh elements that are presented by the game's tiered biomes but also to confront the Norse horrors that live in the wild. After being ferried to Valheim by the Valkyries, your wayward Viking soul must brave the elements, explore snowcapped mountains by foot or the raging seas by longboat, build their own shelter and bases, and eventually fight back the chaotic monstrosities that plague this otherwise stunning environment.

Earlier this month, the ESA announced its commitment to a digital 2021 E3. Last year, in response to the epidemic and in line with lockdown regulations and safety protocols, E3 was cancelled. The spirit of the popular event, however, lived on with Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest and a multitude of separate publisher-facilitated showcases. These events were successful and proved to be potential alternatives to the age-old E3 format. Former Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aimé voiced his opinion on the ESA’s plans for E3 2021 to Gamertag Radio. As a well-known and influential industry veteran, Fils-Aimé used to be directly involved in past E3 planning discussions.

In December, Marvel's Avengers finally received its first post-launch hero in the form of Kate Bishop, the protégé of original Hawkeye Clint Barton. Her story, Operation: Taking AIM, centered around a conspiracy involving Nick Fury and time travel, which leads into the story of the next post-launch hero, Clint Barton. Today, developer Crystal Dynamics provided its first in-depth look into the arrowed Avenger, as well as a March release date for Hawkeye.

Hawkeye's story is called Operation: Future Imperfect and takes place in the not-too-distant possible future where all hope is lost and the world has been devastated. The Kree have come to Earth and laid waste to the planet.

We've officially surpassed the halfway mark of February 2021 and to celebrate, Microsoft is sharing the new titles that players can look forward to coming to Xbox Game Pass. This ever-evolving library is constantly bringing new favorites and brand new games into its rotation and now seven new adventures are joining the fray. 

For those that may not be aware, Xbox Game Pass is a subscription service where, for a monthly flat fee, players can enjoy tons of games at no additional cost, including day-one first-party launch titles, DLC, and more additional content. For February going into the new month, we've got several new additions to enjoy, which you can learn more about below: 

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When Marvel's Avengers launched on last-gen platforms in 2020, we praised the title for its strong single-player campaign, but in the time since its launch, the development team has been largely quiet on the post-launch roadmap, much to the chagrin of a once-hopeful community. We received our first post-launch hero in Kate Bishop in December, but the new-gen version, which was originally set to be a launch title for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X was delayed so the team could focus on and prioritize more pressing problems that popped up after launch.

Annapurna Interactive has built a reputation for smart and varied games during its years of existence, often challenging conventions of what a game can be, and how interactive entertainment can remain engaging, even while tackling unusual or surprising subject matter. That penchant for unique games is on display in the publisher’s new physical-release PlayStation 4 Box Sets, which are being released today in collaboration with iam8bit, another company known for its focus on the artistic side of video game creation. Iam8bit has been around since 2015, and focuses on partnerships with game and film creators to release high-end art, collections, and other products, and also interface directly with fans through community events.

New World is the upcoming MMORPG from publisher Amazon Game Studios, though according to the original plan, it was supposed to be out by now. The game was scheduled to be released last August, but was delayed in the interest of refining the experience. The revised release window was spring 2021, but today the publisher announced that launch is being pushed again.

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According to the latest development update on the New World site, the game will now be released on August 31 – a year after its original date. However, considering all of the challenges that studios have been facing in terms of development during a pandemic, some moved release dates are easy to understand.  

Amazon doesn't specifically cite those issues, but giving a game more time to reach its potential is rarely a bad move. That seems to be the main motivator, according to the studio's explanation. In announcing the new date, the post reads (in part):

Peter Molyneux founded the studio 22Cans back in 2012 based in Guildford, England. Molyneaux started this venture following his work at Bullfrog Productions and Lionhead Studios, the latter shuttering its doors back in 2016. With 22Can's first game launching back in November 2012, the company is faced with the difficulty of layoffs going into 2021. 

As reported by GameIndustry.biz, the UK-based studio has begun an unfortunate round of layoffs, though the exact number of those affected has not been disclosed at this time. 

"Unfortunately, due to a number of factors including projects reaching a certain stage in their development, we can confirm that a number of roles at 22Cans have been made redundant," a studio spokesman said to the site. "Development at the studio is continuing, however."

22Cans

While this is a situation that no one wants to see or experience, it does look like the studio is taking steps to care for those impacted by the layoffs, including "some support" for the newly released staff in an effort to help place them in a new employment situation as soon as possible. 

The Mandalorian star Pedro Pascal has been confirmed to be taking on the role of Joel in the upcoming The Last of Us TV series on HBO alongside Game of Thrones actress Bella Ramsey as Ellie. While we haven't seen either in full costume at this time, one fan decided to create art based on the casting news to see how Pascal fits the bill as our hardened smuggler-turned-best-dad. 

The below art was submitted by Reddit user 'Misty1789' and shows off a scruffier-looking Pascal with white littering his beard and in his more usual clothing style. From the guarded expression in his eyes to the aesthetic changes made to make him look more Joel-eque, this art has me a little more excited to see if the upcoming show is a true tribute to the first game from Naughty Dog. 

While not Silent Hill, the creator of the iconic horror franchise, Keiichiro Toyama, just shared never-before-seen concept art for the new project he is working on. As expected from Toyama, the artwork looks pretty terrifying. 

The new concept art was revealed thanks to a recent interview with the creator over on the Bokeh Game Studio's YouTube channel, the studio behind the new project Toyama is working on. During the interview, he shared a first look at the upcoming horror project with a few new images that show off that Toyama has definitely not lost his touch when it comes to absolutely horrifying his fans. 

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Nintendo has announced its first big Direct showcase in a while, promising more than 50 minutes of new information regarding games coming to Switch as well as new Super Smash Bros. Ultimate news. The Nintendo Direct is set for February 17. 

Nintendo didn't provide any more details about what the Direct will entail other than a vague reveal that the fighting game will be a part of it. The February 17 Nintendo Direct will be "roughly 50 minutes of information focused on available games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and games coming to Nintendo Switch in the first half of 2021." 

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Many fans are hoping for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 news, since the anniversary for that franchise is just a few days later on February 21. While not confirmed, it seems likely that at least something will be revealed concerning the future of Link and Zelda's adventures. If not, the timing of the two events is just one massive coincidence. Given how Nintendo treated the Super Mario 35th anniversary, however, the possibility of new Zelda news is incredibly high. 

Could we learn about more ports? That's also possible, given that the verbiage of the announcement focuses on already available games, so new DLC, events, and ports are most likely for this event. 

The team at Xbox has announced a new headset to complement the new console hardware it launched last year in the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. The new Xbox Wireless Headset promises myriad upgrades to your average, run-of-the-mill gaming headset with best-in-class audio performance and chat features.

When Microsoft set out to improve the gaming experience for the now-current generation of gaming, one key area was audio. The team wanted you to feel like you were dropped into the middle of your gaming experience, and hoped to achieve that with custom audio hardware built into the consoles to relieve the CPU of the workload of processing audio. With the new Xbox Wireless Headset, the platform holder hopes to take the experience to the next level.

The Xbox Wireless Headset allows you to hear games loud and clear with low latency and lossless audio. This new device supports the most popular spatial sound technologies, including Dolby Atmos, DTS Headphone: X, and Windows Sonic. Xbox specifically calls out being able to better hear crucial sounds like enemy footsteps as they attempt to sneak up on you. 

With a phone in hand, it's always the perfect time for gaming. Whether you are waiting for a giant console game to finish downloading or are sitting on your throne dealing with life stuff, you can make plenty of progress in mobile games in a short period of time. From legacy games like Clash Royale and Tap Titans 2 to lesser-known releases like Bonza and Spire Blast, the Game Informer staff has some picks that may interest you. This isn't a roundup of the best mobile games to date, but is instead a quick listing of what some of the editors are currently playing.

We'd love to hear your recommendations as well. Leave them in the comments section below!

The Mass Effect Legendary Edition is a remaster that keeps the heart of the trilogy's story intact while simultaneously making improvements to the game on a basic mechanical level, graphically, and with the in-world sounds. While many of the tweaks are seemingly small, there are many ways that those small alterations make up a more unified picture across all three titles. A solid example of how the trilogy becomes just a little bit stronger outside of the Mako changes, visuals, and character adjustments is how Commander Shepard can approach battle. More specifically, the approach to boss fights.  

We recently sat down with game director Mac Walters and environment and character director Kevin Meek to learn about all of the ways the upcoming remaster aims to perfect the original. When talking about some of the more strategic and directly impactful adjustments, both Walters and Meek talked about one battle in particular: Benezia. 

Pokémon's 25th anniversary, which happens at the end of this month, is starting to rev up. While most announcements aren't expected until Pokémon Day on February 27, we're starting to see some of the announcements and partnerships trickle out ahead of time. We already knew that Katy Perry and Post Malone were joining the celebration, but Levi's is the latest to propose a toast to Pocket Monsters through an all-new collaboration.

The collection includes a wide array of products, including a Pikachu T-shirt (pictured above), a shirt featuring Ash and Misty from the anime, a trucker hat with the Levi's branding in the shape of a Poké Ball, and various other Pikachu, Jigglypuff, and even Psyduck-emblazoned apparel. All of the merchandise is squarely focused on Gen 1, aside from a tiny picture of Togepi on the shirt meant to replicate Misty's shirt. 

You can see a few of the items on offer in the gallery below.

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Assassin's Creed Valhalla ended up being one of the best games of 2020 thanks to its immersive world, satisfying combat, and compelling narrative that propelled the Assassin's Creed lore forward in meaningful ways. Despite coming out of the gates strong, Ubisoft has continued to update the experience through patches and in-game events, like the Yule Season content, which has been running since December. A new title update for Assassin's Creed Valhalla, set to hit all platforms tomorrow, adds even more content to the ongoing event, including a new and highly replayable mode.

River Raids mode allows you to ready your raiding crew for previously unexplored parts of England. Storm the shores to claim enticing loot and rewards, and take on new challenges. River Raids joins Assassin's Creed Valhalla as a part of the ongoing Yule Season content, free to all players through Title Update 1.1.2.

This update also adds three new abilities: Berserker Trap, Battle Cry, and Shoulder Bash. Berserker Trap is activated by movement, attaches to your arrow, and spreads a hallucinatory powder. Battle Cry gives Eivor a rage-induced strength boost that also causes nearby enemies to stumble and stop attacks out of fear. Shoulder Bash is, fittingly enough, a strong bash of the shoulder that can push enemies back and destroy objects.

The Animal Crossing: New Horizons Festivale event is now live and for those taking to those islands once more to get into the celebratory spirit, we threw together a handy little guide to get you started. From feathers to fun, here is what you need to know about the new Animal Crossing: New Horizons event. 

The event itself is based on Carnival and allows players to purchase Festival-themed furniture, new clothes from the Able Sisters shop, and craft some quirky new DIY items to deck out for a good 'ol time. For those looking to be the island hostess with the mostess, you're going to want to get really familiar with feather gathering in-game. 

When you jump into your island once more, you'll notice colorful feathers afloat in the sky. You can catch them in the air while using your net, but the Rainbow Feather (which you will want) will require you to talk to Pavé in order to craft one. You can find this character over by Resident Services. 

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Gather as many feathers as you can to trade them in. You'll need to trade in the colored feathers nine times in order to craft Rainbow Feathers. Craft three and you'll be able to get a recipe for the Festivale Float. 

To craft a Rainbow Feather, here's what you need: 

Some might remember the animated Ratchet & Clank film from 2016. It didn’t exactly light the world on fire, but it was definitely a thing that happened. If you want more of that, the same animation studio behind the movie, Mainframe Studios, created a new Ratchet & Clank short film. The catch? It’s available only on Canada’s Crave TV streaming service and apparently not a ton of people knew it even existed. 

While we not-so-patiently wait for news about the next part of the Final Fantasy VII Remake, we do have some pretty epic cosplay to help us pass the time. When first stumbling upon this incredible Final Fantasy VII Remake Cloud cosplay, I had to physically stop and make sure it wasn't painted art or a high-resolution screenshot. Nope! It's a person and this person is impressively talented. 

The amazing Cloud cosplay (shared below) comes to life thanks to Kuja Oniisan, a cosplayer with a penchant for all things Final Fantasy. Cloud isn't the only character they've tackled either, making their entire cosplay portfolio worth diving right into for anyone that is a fan of the series.

fcd

I have muscles, they are just "dilly dally shilly shally" most of the time pic.twitter.com/dKExzVz7FH

— Kuja Oniisan (@KujaOnii) December 23, 2020

For the people who wondered, it's a fog machine. Here are some of the other pictures, it was hard to breathe at this point pic.twitter.com/d2TI16ei7A

Star Wars and Marvel have been household names for the longest time. Aside from respectively touting extensive lists of movies, television shows, and other forms of media, Star Wars and Marvel Comics have continuously crossed paths since the 70s. The stories that emerge from the two heavyweights’ many collaborations  — canon or otherwise  — leave fans satisfied, yet hungry for more. And the next chapter in the Star Wars-Marvel Comics saga is just around the corner.

Exciting new artwork accompanies a recent post on the official Star Wars website and reveals the latest main character in the next Star Wars-Marvel Comics project: One of the galaxy’s most renowned bounty hunters, Boba Fett. Boba Fett is no stranger to the limelight, but the masked gunslinger’s reputation for teetering on the threshold of reserved anti-hero and cruel villain has solidified him as one of Star Wars’ most mysterious personalities. Information regarding the upcoming comic’s central narrative is still under wraps, but you’ll be happy to know that more details will be revealed on the Star Wars website tomorrow. You can see the stunning image of Boba Fett below. 

Over the weekend, Viking survival game Valheim crested to a concurrent player peak of over 360,000 players on Steam. While Steam and other game storefronts are inundated with survival titles to choose from, ranging from Minecraft (and its many assorted mods) to Ark to Terraria to Rust, the new early access title from Iron Gate AB is barging its way onto the scene. From a core list of features and mechanics, Valheim may not appear different at all from many other survival titles. So what separates Valheim from any of the other survival titles out there? Should you give it a try? Here are a few key takeaways that help explain Valheim’s rise through the ranks…

Zack Snyder’s Justice League premieres March 18 on HBO Max, and the film’s latest trailer gives DC-loving hopefuls another look at the long-awaited “Snyder cut”. The four-hour epic serves as the definitive version of the 2017’s Justice League and features newly added scenes and narrative threads.  

The trailer provides glimpses of previously revealed plot elements, such as Darkseid’s involvement, Superman’s black suit, and Jared Leto’s reimagined Joker. The film is chock full of comic book goodness new and old but its narrative core remains the same: Following the events of Batman v Superman, Batman rallies DC’s finest heroes to band together and take on the invading Steppenwolf. For fans of Zack Snyder’s unique vision of DC’s pantheon, the bombastic trailer is about as Snyder-y as can be.

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Valheim, the new early access Viking-inspired survival game, has been making its way into everyone’s Steam library since its sudden launch two weeks ago. Even now, the game continues to dominate Steam’s best-seller list and boasts fun base-building features, a plethora of useful collectibles, intense cooperative gameplay, and some truly terrifying enemies from the regular grunts scouring the landscape(s) to larger boss battles. However, a recent bug has been ruining the fun by erasing entire gameworlds and player characters along with them. 

In a recent Tweet, Iron Gate (Valheim’s developer) CEO, Richard Svensson, talked about the “world-destroyer” bug and urged players to take immediate precautions since the team hasn’t found any remedy for the issue as of yet. “If you are playing Valheim this weekend, please backup your world and characters,” Svensson said in his Twitter post. “The evil world-destroyer bug is still roaming free.” 

If you are playing Valheim this weekend, please backup your world and characters. The evil world-destroyer bug is still roaming free =( #valheim

Deep Silver and 4A Games just announced a Metro Exodus PC Enhanced Edition alongside an update on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X upgrades on the horizon. 

Full ray tracing is on the horizon with the revamped versions of the games. As noted in the reveal, Metro Exodus was one of the first major titles to utilize ray tracing but it was only accessible for high-end PCs with the help of NVIDIA's latest RTX graphic card series. With the Xbox Series X/S and the PlayStation 5 both offering ray tracing support, the studio is making "radical" changes to revamp what ray tracing means and bringing it over to console. 

"We have built an all-new fully ray-traced lighting pipeline that brings a number of optimizations, upgrades, and new features to the ray-traced global illumination and emissive lighting that we pioneered with the original release of Metro Exodus, as well as an upgraded implementation of our powerful temporal reconstruction technology to further boost resolution, visual detail, and performance," says Deep Silver about the latest update. 

A new Baldur's Gate 3 update is dropping later this week, and Larian Studios promises that it has the "biggest patch notes ever" since the beginning of the Early Access period. The reveal will be dropping with the studio's second The Panel From Hell showcase this Wednesday. 

The Panel From Hell 2 will kick off on February 17 at 10 a.m. Pacific and will reveal what's next for the RPG. The usual improvements are to be expected, which have been incredible thus far in improving the world's beauty and eliminating reported bugs. However, the upcoming update will be the most ambitious yet, with Larian boasting that it will be "the biggest patch notes ever forged in the fiery pits of Larian," which means we will likely see a new class for players to enjoy. 

Principle D&D rules designer Jeremy Crawford will be on the upcoming panel alongside creative director Swen Vincke and guests David Walgrave, Nick Pechenin, and a few others. 

The panel will go over the challenges faced thus far and what the future holds in the immediate vicinity, including improved cinematics, Tieflings, all things magic, and...cows. 

Overcooked! All You Can Eat, the enhanced bundle of Overcooked and Overcooked 2, will find its way into new kitchens (or living rooms), on March 23. The previously new-gen exclusive title will arrive on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC.

All You Can Eat was released as a launch title for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X last year; it bundles the two games along with their respective DLC content. There’s also a heaping helping of added content such as seven new levels, three exclusive chefs, and new alternate skins for the 80 existing chefs. If you watched last year’s Game Awards, you’ll remember that Swedish Chef of Muppets fame is also available as a free download for All You Can Eat (for a limited time). 

The presentation looks even sharper thanks to 4K visuals and 60 fps performance (30 fps on Switch). Crashing into friends while rushing to get a dish out the door looks smoother than ever. Speaking of your soon-to-be-ex-friends, aspiring chefs across all platforms can cook together thanks to the addition of cross-play. Some of you might be saying “But I already got 100 percent in both Overcooked games.” Well, what if I told you All You Can Eat features brand new trophies/achievements sets?

Warframe continues to be a massively popular online experience to this day, which makes new content even more exciting for existing players. In a new video, Warframe's senior community manager Megan Everett shows off what players can expect with the Warframe spring content update. 

While there are quite a few new things revealed, I'm especially excited for the Octavia Prime form; musical attacks make everything better. In addition to this form, the studio also revealed a brand-new storyline for Warframe players to dive into as well as the new Call of the Tempestarii event that will challenge fans to learn more about the origins of Sevagoth, the newest Warframe. What's even more exciting about Sevagoth is that this design was entirely based on fan creativity, which makes the deep dive into its lore all the more exciting. 

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Here is a breakdown for what spring will bring for Warframe: 

Call of the Tempestarii

This part of the update will explore Corpus-controlled Proxima regions while players take on new Railjack missions and scuffle with Void Storms to learn more about the ghostly Sevagoth. Who doesn't love a good mystery? 

Viking survival game Valheim is full of dangerous encounters, from errant skeletons and mosquitos to falling trees. However, the boss encounters like the Bonemass are definitely much more difficult and deadly than other standard biome inhabitants. The Bonemass is the third world boss in Valheim, after Eikthyrnir and The Elder. So, how do you beat it?

Finding The Bonemass

First, you'll need to know where the boss is! The Bonemass can be found in Swamp biomes, so be on the lookout for runestones in Swamp areas and in the Sunken Crypts. Your world will contain multiple spawn locations for each boss, so if you are exploring multiple swamps or have multiple teams combing areas, you may find more than one spawn point for Bonemass. If you have the option to tackle the Bonemass in different locations, pick the one that involves the least sailing and the least going through rough biomes like Plains.

DC Universe Online first made its debut back in January of 2011 and since its launch, has given comic fans a plethora of expansions, a constantly evolving roster, and stories that many DC lovers didn't think would be told in a game format. DC Universe Online offers a fearlessness when it comes to creating content surrounding some of the most iconic characters in DC's history, and that vision has only become even more faithful to the community under the leadership of Dimensional Ink Games CEO Jack Emmert. 

Emmert is a passionate comic book fan, so much so that our interview extended beyond when it was supposed to because his excitement was contagious. We sat down with the CEO to reflect back on 10 years of DC Universe Online and in that short time with the studio head, it was clear to see that this team is in understanding hands going into the next decade of adventurers with our favorite heroes. 

Resident Evil Village is giving us Tall Vampire Lady thirst and the return of Ethan Winters and now that the memes have died down a little bit about the former, Capcom is talking a little more about the decision to bring the latter back in style. 

With Village continuing where Resident Evil 7 left off, some fans have expressed interest in the reason behind the return of Ethan Winters and his wife. Since his character has been shrouded in mystery following the events of RE7, his return was a welcome surprise for longtime fans. But why now? 

In a recent interview in the PlayStation Official Magazine, producer Peter Fabiano opened up a little more about why a favorite of games' past has returned. “Concepting and planning was something going through our developers’ minds since towards the end of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard," said Fabiano. "The team grew quite attached to Ethan as a character so we knew we wanted to continue his story arc. We wanted to continue to have players experience the game through the eyes of protagonist Ethan Winters. This is a continuation of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard after all.

The X-Men hold a special place in many comic fans’ hearts, and I’m no exception. While my tastes in comics have broadened over the years to include a ton of other great books, my enthusiasm for comics started with the Children of the Atom. I remain a big fan of Xavier’s mutants, and the myriad stories they’ve been a part of over the years. That’s why I was especially curious about Fantasy Flight’s take on the X-Men franchise; the teams there often reveal an uncanny talent for recognizing the unique tone of a licensed property, and finding a way to reflect that in the mechanics and flavor of a new board game. I’m happy to say that X-Men: Mutant Insurrection is no exception. By balancing an action-focused, dice-driven battle system with a clever approach to alliances and character relationships, the new game has all the drama and flair of some of the great superhero comic runs.

X-Men: Mutant Insurrection is a fully cooperative tabletop game for one to six players. While experienced players can blast through a game solo or with a partner in a bit over an hour, the game really comes into its own with three or more players, and I’d expect that to be a two-hour-plus playthrough for most groups. I recommend a larger group size because so much of the X-Men mythology circulates around the ideas of community, teamwork, and competing personalities, and it’s hard to nail that vibe unless you have a similar mix of different folks at the table.

Oddworld fans have patiently waited for Abe’s next adventure, Soulstorm, and now we know it’ll be coming this spring after getting delayed out of 2020. While we already knew that the game was coming to PlayStation platforms, what we didn’t know was that it will launch on PC as an Epic Games Store exclusive.

The news comes as part of Epic’s Spring Showcase, alongside a new trailer showing off some never-before-seen footage of the game in action. Oddworld: Soulstorm looks even better than ever, and fans of classic Oddworld should have plenty to get excited about. Take a look at the narrated gameplay breakdown below.

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